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Calving / security cameras

BBE

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Yorkshire
I'm in the process of installing a new camera system. I hope to be able to do this myself but have limited technical knowledge, is this something a layman should undertake?

I want 2 calving cameras in the cattle sheds and another monitoring the yard for security. So far I've run cat6 cable from a plant room to the locations I want to mount cameras (longest run is just over 80 meters) and from the plant room back to my desktop / router.

Couple of questions on cameras, is there any difference in the specification required for calving cameras and security cameras? What should I be looking for?
I've looked back on previous threads and seen a number of brands recommended, any views on these would be appreciated; HIKvision, Axis, Flir, Swann, Foscam. I want decent build quality but also good technical support would be useful to help with the setup. Any others I should consider?

What do I need in the plant room to power the cameras and relay the signal? Should the NVR be sited with the desktop? Anything I'm missing?
 

Overunder

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Scotland
I’d go with a Swann NVR
NVR based somewhere with power then all you need is to run 1x cat5/6 out to each camera.
If you run another cable from the NVR to your router you can view the cameras on an app on your phone
I’ve setup a couple of NVR8-8580 4x camera kits and it’s pretty straight forward
Good luck!!
 
Keep the fixed Cat6 cable runs to under 90 metres and 100 metres in total including any (patch or fly leads) cables at either end of the link.

Its simplest and easiest to run the Cat6 cabling back to a Power over Ethernet (PoE) compliant network switch which will provide the cameras with power supplied over the network cabling. You only need a modest 4 port switch. Less than £100. Netgear are generally very good, and it’s what I prefer to fit.

I have recently updated all my IP cameras from Panasonics to HIKVision units. They are excellent really. Axis and Flir have a good name too, but will be less bang for buck. I also have a couple of larger Reolink PTZ cameras and found them very good. I would recommend you fit no less than a 2 megapixel resolution cameras and ideally 4 megapixel, which should provide excellent detail. Also ensure they have built in Infra Red (IR) illumination and good performance at low light (< 1 lux) levels.

Unless you want the ability to have the camera rotate, tilt and zoom, that is pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) type then a simple fixed “bullet” camera ought to be sufficient.
 

fermerboy

Member
Location
Banffshire
I have Foscam PTZ in two calving buildings linked back to farmhouse with Wifi links. Works well and the cameras were cheap really, both about £160ex on a black Friday deal.
Some cameras can use Power over Ethernet but some can't and need a supply, a lot of the PTZ ones need a seperate supply.
Mine are only 3 and 4 times zoom so you cant read an animal ear tag, but they are well clear enough to watch a cow calving.

At our local show this year a new lot were demoing Hikvision 3 and 4 megapixel cameras and I was very impressed with the quality for the cost. Definitely would look at them if I was in the market.
I did mine myself, so it was a learning curve. Hardest part is getting them to work on the phone as the router needs configuring to allow a remote access. There are easier ways depending on which brand you go for.
Not got any experience with security cameras and recording, sorry.
 

AllNewTech

New Member
I'm in the process of installing a new camera system. I hope to be able to do this myself but have limited technical knowledge, is this something a layman should undertake?

I want 2 calving cameras in the cattle sheds and another monitoring the yard for security. So far I've run cat6 cable from a plant room to the locations I want to mount cameras (longest run is just over 80 meters) and from the plant room back to my desktop / router.

Couple of questions on cameras, is there any difference in the specification required for calving cameras and security cameras? What should I be looking for?
I've looked back on previous threads and seen a number of brands recommended, any views on these would be appreciated; HIKvision, Axis, Flir, Swann, Foscam. I want decent build quality but also good technical support would be useful to help with the setup. Any others I should consider?

What do I need in the plant room to power the cameras and relay the signal? Should the NVR be sited with the desktop? Anything I'm missing?


Hi BBE,

I believe we can help you with this matter, you can check our service here about CCTV Installation / Security and Alarm System. Or you my contact us directly on this page.

Thank You.
 

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Webinar: Expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer 2024 -26th Sept

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On Thursday 26th September, we’re holding a webinar for farmers to go through the guidance, actions and detail for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer. This was planned for end of May, but had to be delayed due to the general election. We apologise about that.

Farming and Countryside Programme Director, Janet Hughes will be joined by policy leads working on SFI, and colleagues from the Rural Payment Agency and Catchment Sensitive Farming.

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